365 Reflections

1 Samuel 13:1–4 (ESV) Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. Saul's character slowly unfolds in the narrative of 1 Samuel. We are not told upfront that Saul is really not the king of the Lord's choosing. We are to discover this over the course of the narrative, seeing Saul's faults and taking no...

Have you ever seen success go straight to someone's head? It happens to Gideon very tragically right after his greatest victory. Judges 8:15–17  (ESV) And he (Gideon) came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’ ” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he (Gideon!) took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 And he (Gideon!) broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city.  The story of Gideon's defeat of Mideon ranks as one of the great triumphs of faith for the people of God. It is listed in the hall of fame chapter in Hebrews 11. He is preached about to this day as a man who did far more than he could have ever believed. Yet the middle and end of Gideon's life are stories we do not often discuss. Tragically, Gideon's succ...

Exodus 9:6 (ESV)   And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died. Exodus 9:11 (ESV)  And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians. Exodus 9:26 (ESV) Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail. Exodus 10:15 (ESV)  They covered the face of the whole land, so that the land was darkened, and they ate all the plants in the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Not a green thing remained, neither tree nor plant of the field, through all the land of Egypt. Exodus 10:23 (ESV) They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. The recurring message of the final plagues is the repeated theme that while Egypt suffered the wrath of God, t...

Exodus 2:11–13 (ESV)   One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” Moses Part 1 is impulsive, reckless, emotional and a bit arrogant. He sees an Egyptian doing what he did not approve of and kills him. Moses is an adopted son of Pharaoh. He could have court marshaled him. He could have reprimanded or punished him. He had many options. Moses just kills him. In that moment we see a man with passion but very little character. He's the impulsive diplomat who sees his position as one of sovereign autonomy... albeit an autonomy he keeps to himself as he hides the man in the sand. The next day he's at it again. T...

Revelation 22:10–11 (ESV) And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” This is a strange verse in the last chapter of the Bible.  It is not saying we should just continue in evil. No. That would be to miss the entire message of the Bible! It is referring to the time of Christ's return. That Christ will return so quickly, there will be no chance for repentance and change. The funny thing about Christ's return is simply this: When it happens, it's over. There's no going back and trying to fix it. He's coming and justice is coming with Him. He will reward each one and judge each one accordingly. What are we to do? We are to make certain now that we are walking in the righteousness and holiness of Christ. We are to aim for holy and righteous living because of His soon return....

Admittedly, every church has it's problems. Corinth is no exception. We discussed that in the last post that even though they were undeniably gifted they had serious failings Paul needed to correct. In the Old Testament "epistles" (we call them the Prophets) the nation was often rebuked for sins followed by a promise of restoration. Consider one of the all-time favorite memory verses in the church: Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. We love to put that verse on our coffee mugs, t-shirts and bumper stickers.  But the context of those words is anything but good. The nation is about to be carted off to exile, their temple burned, their homes ravaged, their land turned over to a godless nation at the whim of a dictator. They have not listened to God and they are to be corrected. But AFTER the rebuke, Jeremiah brings the promise. God still has great plans for t...

Don't mistake gifting for godliness. I know it hard to hear but many gifted individuals have led miserable lives of ruin behind them. Case in point: The Church in Corinth. Paul opens one of his sternest letters to any church with this commendation to the Corinthian Christians: 1 Corinthians 1:7 (ESV) you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, They had ALL the gifts. The did not lack in any of them. In chapter 12 Paul is going to sort them out about how to use them. But that's the least of this church's problems.   There were factions. There was sexual immorality. A guy was sleeping with is step-mother and they were proud! There was chaos in the church meetings. There was disorder in their body. There were some who taught others the resurrection wasn't real. And this was a very gifted church in a very prominent city.  Sometimes I struggle with this reconciliation... Giftedness is not a sign of ...